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15 



Post-Bellum Mortalitij Among Confederates, 
ADDRESS 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



Gufedcrate Qurvivors' Vidssociation 



(Gufedcrate Q 




AT ITS 



Quarterly Meeting 



Augusta. Georgia, August 2d. 1887. 



BY 



Col: CHARLES C. JON ES. Jr., LL. D,. 



PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



AUGUSTA, GA, 

CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
1887. 



3(en. ^. Dyt. 1. 3Unhr. 
Post-Bellum Mortaliti] Among Confederates. 

ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



ronfederate Qurvivors' ^ssocieiion 



AT ITS ^'^^^^^ 

Quarterly Meeting Ku-^ :J^' 



V <t J 



Augusta. Georgia, August 2d 1887. 



BY 



Col: CHARLES C. JO N ES, Jr ,, LL. D, 



PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION. 
f 



PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



AUGUSTA, GA. 

CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1887. 



0,61 



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"gq^s 



01, 






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The; Addrbss, 



COMRADES: 

Since our pleasant Keunion on the 26th of April last, five 
of our companions have joined the legions encamped! on the 
Further Shore Robert Wallace, — second lieutenant of the 
Washing-ton Artillery, — died on the 10th of May ; J. C. Allen, — 
private in Company A, Cobb's Legion of Cavalry, — on the 28th 
of the same month; William Belane, — private in Company A, 
Fifth Regiment Georgia Infantry, — on the yth of June,- Charles 
A. Piatt, — captain of the same company — on the 21st of July — 
memorable as the anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas — 
and to-day we receive the afflictive iiTtelligence that our com- 
rade Theodore D. Casivell, — Lieutenant Colonel of the Second 
Battalion, Georgia Sharp Shooters — is lying dead in Asheville 
North Carolina. 

The strong hand of mortality has also been laid upon two 
noted Confederates. William Smith, — a war-governor of Vir- 
ginia, and a Major-General in Confederate service — departed 
this life at his home in Warrenton, Virginia, on the 18th of 
May, at the advanced age of ninety years ; and, on the 18th of 
July, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter quietly ended his long 
and honorable earthly career. 

Born in Essex County, Virginia, on the 2Ist of April, 1809, 
Mr. Hunter acquired his collegiate education at the University 
of Virginia. Having completed his professional preparation 
at the Winchester Law School, he was called to the Bar in 
1830. In early manhood his active interest in public affairs, 
an honorable ambition for preferment, and the exhibition of 
unusual abilities were recognized and rewarded by an election 
to the Virginia House of Delegates, of which he remained a 
member for three years. 



In 1837 he was advanced to a seat in Congress, which he 
filled for two consecutive terms. Returned to the National 
Assembly in 1847, he presided over the Twenty-Sixth Congress 
as Speaker of the House of Representatives. From his earliest 
participation in national affairs he manifested an intellectual 
superiority, an independence of thought and action, and broad 
views of measures and government which, maintained and 
heightened during subsequent years, secured for him an envia- 
ble reputation for integrity, political sagacity, and wise states- 
manship. Possessing uncommon intellect, and exhibiting 
admirable traits of charactei', he was an earnest student, an 
engaging speaker, was gifted by nature with a noble presence, 
and was in every way a man of commanding influence. In 
1847 he became a Senator of the United States, and continued 
to be a prominent member of that august body until, in 1861, 
Virginia severed her connection with the Union. 

When the State of Virginia passed her Ordinance of Seces- 
sion and sanctioned a resolution adopting the constitution of 
the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of 
America, a delegation, consisting of Mr. Hunter, and the hon- 
orable William C. Rives, John W. Brockenbrough, and W. R. 
Staples, was elected to represent that State in the Provisional 
Congress at Montgomery. Upon the adjournment of that 
Congress to meet at Richmond — the designated capital of the 
infant Republic — Mr. Hunter was again chosen as a delegate 
from the Old Dominion. 

It will be remembered that Mr. Toombs resigned the port- 
folio of the State Department and accepted service in the fifld 
with the rank of brigadier general. In this emergency Presi- 
dent Davis summoned Mr. Hunter to his cabinet. He accepted 
the appointment of Secretary of State, and discharged the 
duties of that responsible position until the organization of the 
Confederate Senate, when he became a member of that body, 
and retained his seat, as the leading Senator from Virginia, 
until the close of the war. The valuable services he rendered 
both in the National Assembly of the United States and in the 
Confederate Congress, are well remembered. The conspicuous 
part borne by him when, at the instance of Mr. Davis, and in 
association with Vice-President Stephens and Judge Campbell, 
he participated in the Fortress Monroe Conference is fresh in 
our recollection. 



Subsequent to the conclusion of the war Mr. Hunter was 
for some time the treasurer of his native State. Of late years 
he has led a retired life, toiling for bread in the midst of dis- 
appointments and losses. At the last, we doubt not, he wel- 
comed surcease from labor and anxieties in the repose of a 
simple but honored grave. 

Thus do we inscribe a page in memory of one who held 
high office and discharged important duties in the civil service 
of the Confederacy. 

Although only twenty-two years have elapsed since the 
fall ot the Confedei-acy, the catalogue of the dead who, while 
in life, bore prominent parts ia the maintenance of that govern- 
ment, is remarkable. Not the flight of time only, but burthen- 
some losses, weighty disappointments, mental and physical 
tension, and unusual afflictions have had much to do in bring- 
ing about a heavy mortality. This will increase during the 
next decade in a greater than geometrical ratio, and very 
soon there will be none among the living who bore personal 
allegiance to the Confederate Flag. The youngest survivor of 
the Confederate Army and Navy — well-kept benedict or spruce 
bachelor though he be — must surely have attained at least to 
his fortieth year. The head of the average soldier is silvered 
with age, and multitudes who were in the meridian of life 
when the storm raged have succumbed to the inevitable law 
which fixes the bounds of human longevity. 

Let us see, in a general way, how the record stands. 

Our venerable President still lives and, at Beauvoir, enjoys 
a serene old age beneath the grateful shadows of Southern 
Live-Oaks and Magnolias ; but the' Vice-President of the Con- 
federacy four years ago terminated his active and useful career. 

Of those who held the portfolio of State — Kobert Toombs, 
R. M. T. Hunter, and Judah P. Benjamin, — all are dead. 

Of the four Attorneys General, only two, — Ex-Governor 
Thomas H. Watts, and the honorable George Davis — survive. 

Mr. Memminger, of the Treasury Department, still lives. 
The other Secretary, — the gifted George A, Trenholm — has, 
for years, been sleeping that sleep which knows no waking. 

Of the five Secretaries of War — Leroy Pope Walker, Judah 
P. Benjamin, George W. Randolph, James A. Seddon, and John 
C. Breckinridge — not one is alive. 



6 

The accomplished Adjutant General Samuel Cooper, R. G. 
H. Kean— chief of the bureau of War, — A. C. Myers— Quarter- 
Master General, — L. B. Northrup — Commissary General, — 
General L. M. St. John — chief of the bureau of Subsistence, — 
General Josiah Gorgas — chief of Ordnance,— Col. T. S. Rhett — 
in charge of the Ordnance bureau, — General J. F. Gilmer — 
chief Engineer, — General John S. Preston — chief of the bureau 
of Conscription, — General John H. Winder — commanding 
Prison Camps, — Robert Ould — chief of the bureau of Exchange, 
— Richard Morton — chief of the Nitre and Mining bureau, — 
and A. H. Carrington — acting Provost-Marshal General, — are, 
I believe, all dead. Quartermaster General Alexander R. Law- 
ton, now vergnig upon seventy, represents the United States 
at the Austrian Court. 

Rufus R. Rhodes — Commissioner of Patents — is thought 
to be no longer among the living. 

Turning to the Navy Department we find upon the death, 
roll the names of Secretary Stephen R. Mallory, of Commodore 
F. Forrest — chief of the bureau of Orders, — of Admirals Frank- 
lin Buchanan and Raphael Semmes, — of Commodores Tattnall, 
Maury, Whittle, Hollins, Ingraham, and of many other promi- 
nent officers. 

Post Master General John H. Reagan lives, and is a mem- 
ber of the National Legislature. 

Of the Commissioners who represented the Confederacy 
abroad, James M. Mason and William L. Yancey — accredited to 
Great Britain, — John Slidell — accredited to France, — P. A. Rost 
— accredited to Spain, — John T. Pickett — accredited to Mexico, 
— Bishop Lynch — accredited to the States of the Church, — and 
John Forsyth, Martin J. Crawford, A. B. Roman, and Charles 
J. Faulkner — accredited to the United States, — are dead. The 
octogenarian, A. Dudley Mann —accredited to Belgium — resides 
in France. The honorable Lucius Q. C. Lamar — accredited to 
Russia — is a member of President Cleveland's Cabinet, and 
General William Preston — accredited to Mexico — rejoices in 
his broad acres in the blue-grass region of Kentucky. 

Among the Consular, Confidential, and Foreign Agents of 
the Confederacy we note the demise of C. C. Clay, Jacob 
Thompson, James P. Holcombe, Charles J. Helm, Colin J. 
McRae, George N. Sanders, J. L. O'Sullivan, and of others 
holding less important positions. 



Of those who bore rank as Full Generals in the armies of 
the Confederacy only two survive : — Generals Joseph E. John- 
ston and G. T. Beauregard. General Albert S. Johnston fell in 
the memorable battle of Shiloh, and Generals Robert E. Lee 
and Braxton Bragg died since the cessation of hostilities. 

There were two generals with temporary rank — E. Kirby 
Smith, and John B. Hood. The former lives, and the latter, in 
dying, commended his orphans to the care of the soldiers of 
the Confederacy. 

Twenty-one officers were complimented with the grade of 
Lieutenant General. The only survivors are Generals James 
Longstreet, E. Kirby Smith, D. H. Hill, Stephen D. Lee, Wade 
Hampton, Jubal A. Early, Alexander P. Stewart, Joseph Whee- 
ler, Simon B. Buckner, and John B. Gordon. 

Of the one hundred who were commissioned as Major 
Generals in Confederate service, if my information be correct, 
only forty-five are now numbered among the living. 

Of four hundred and eighty who rose to the grade of 
Brigadier General, an inquiry — by no means partial, — inclines 
me to the belief that there are not two hundred in life. 

With the exception of Thomas H. Watts of Alabama, 
Joseph E. Brown of Georgia, Zebulon B. Vance of North Caro- 
lina, M. L. Bonham and A. G. Magrath of South Carolina, 
Isham G. Harris of Tennessee, and perhaps Richard Hawes of 
Kentucky, all the War-Governors of Confederate States are 
dead. 

We have not sufficient data to speak with certainty in 
regard to the Senators and Representatives in Confederate Con- 
gress, but we do know that the mortality among them has been 
commensurate witli that which has occurred in other depart- 
ments. Of those who tarry with us, not a few have almost 
reached the last span in the bridge of life, and must soon fall 
into the dark stream which bears away the generations of 
men. 

The Constitution of the Confederate States was signed by 
forty-nine delegates. All who affixed their signatures to that 
memorable document are dead except C. G. Memminger, W. 
Porcher Miles and William W. Boyce of Soiith Carolina, Au- 
gustus R. Wright of Georgia, David P. Lewis and Jabez L. M. 
Curry of Alabama, W. P. Harris, Alexander M. Clayton, and 



J. A. P. Campbell of Mississippi, Alexander cle Clouet of Louis- 
iana, and Thomas N. Waul and John H. Reagan of Texas. 

And who can furnish even a partial roster of the field, 
company, and non-commissioned officers, privates, subordinates 
in various departments, and servants of the Confederacy, who 
have died since the final surrender ? Surely none, save the 
Eecording Angel, is competent lor such a task. Wounds, 
bruises, poverty, desolation, exposures, want, and disappoint- 
ments have exerted a potent influence in shortening the lives 
of many who escaped death upon the march, on the field of 
battle, or in prison camp and hospital. In the natural order of 
afiairs the multitude of those who have thus gone to their 
graves must be great. Sad as the fact is, we may rest assured 
that with the close of this century there will remain compara- 
tively few, competent, from personal experience, to narrate any 
of the incidents connected with the Confederate struggle for 
independence. 

This being so, the obligation is laid upon all, who can, to 
perpetuate in enduring form the true philosophy of events, the 
genuine circumstance of the action, the inspirations, the ex- 
alted aspirations, the patriotic impulses, the heroic endeavors, 
the illustrious achievements, and the grand memories which 
impart to the defensive war maintained by Confederates an 
importance, an interest, a dignity, an elevation, and a sanctity 
beyond compare in the history of khidred revolutions. 

Unfortunately, the historian too often busies himself so 
largely with laudations of the victor that justice is lamely 
meted out to the aims and the exploits of the vanquished. 
There is, however, apart from recorded history, a general senti- 
ment, an honest appreciation of fact, a faithful narrative of 
event, a true interpretation of purpose, which may be transmit- 
ted from sire to son, and which will prove very potent in form- 
ing the judgment, moulding the thought, and shaping the ap- 
preciation of the rising generation. Let us see to it, my Com- 
rades, that we are not misinterpreted by our sons. Our chil- 
dren should be thoroughly taught the noble lessons inculcated 
by the lives and acts of those who died for country and for 
right. A proper conception and a due observance of the prin- 
ciples and conduct of those who, in the past, illustrated the 
integrity, the virtues, and the valor of the Old South, will best 
ensvire the manliness, the honor, and the courage of the future. 



9 

The present, alas ! is essentially a utilitarian age. It is icono- 
clastic in its tendencies, and lamentably debauched by commer- 
cial methods. Ennobling- sentiments and worthy purposes are 
too often supplanted by schemes for the accumulation of wealth, 
and the sordid manipulation of money-making enterprises. I 
fear me, in losing our distinctive characteristics, we are lower- 
ing the standard of our fathers. 

While life lasts, let us proclaim in our walk and conversa- 
tion and illustrate in our conduct the vital influence of a con- 
secrated past — the elevating sway of hopes and principles dear 
to the hearts and consciences of all who venerate truth, admire 
fortitude, abhor questionable thoughts and acts, and acknowl- 
edge the claims of neighbor, country, and God. In the light 
of that bravest epoch in the history of nations, with all its 
heroic actors, noble deeds, and marvelous examples of self- 
sacrifice, virtue, and high emprise, let no word of apology be 
uttered in the present. Let no sentiment be cherished which 
is not loyal to the traditions of that wondrous period. Let no 
act be committed which does not savor of reverence for its 
inspirations and deeds. And thus, when all who participated 
in the struggle shall have passed away, the blessed memories 
which appertain to the dead nation and peoples will remain 
unimpaired, and the examples of patriotism, of self-sacrifice, 
of heroism, and of sublime endeavor will stand for the honor 
of the days that are gone, and challenge the emulation of the 
ages. 

In time to come, as now, when the names and valorous 
deeds of those who died m defense of home and right are 
repeated, in glad acclaim will admiring hearts respond : 

"Roll back, O Time, the sacred scroll 
Ou which is told their story: 
For by the light that falls to-day 
We'd read their quenchless glory. 
For no historic page proclaims 
Such deeds of high endeavor 
As those the South enshrines within 
Her heart of hearts forever. 

Awake ! fond memories of the past, 
E'en though ye bi'ing us weeping: 
Unroll, O Time ! the precious scroll 
We gave into your keeping. 
Flash all the golden letters out 
That tell their glorious story : 
Proclaim from every mountain peak 
'Dead on the field of glory'." 



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